About 250 people at UC Irvine gathered for a â€œstudent solidarity speakoutâ€ Tuesday. They protested the universityâ€™s recent arrests of students, along with the spate of racist incidents at UC San Diego that targeted black students and another incident last month at UC Davis, which targeted a Jewish student with a swastika carved on her door.

UCI is still dealing with the fallout from the February arrests of 11 students after disrupting Israeli Ambassador Michael Orenâ€™s speech on campus and 17 students last week for blocking access to an administration building during a protest. The students arrested at the ambassadorâ€™s speech are facing criminal charges and UCI has announced that disciplinary actions, including expulsion, are possibilities.

Students and other speakers initially gathered at the Student Center at noon to share thoughts on the spate of events on UC campuses. After the rally, the crowd marched around Ring Road and then gathered together and chanted, â€œReal pain! Real action. Real pain! Real action.â€ Later, they moved to the doors of the administration building where supporters from multiple perspectives protested amid a sea of flags. Read More.

Israel Supporters (Joanna Clay/For OCLNN)

Hopefully we can get beyond the silly grandstanding by people like Assemblyman Chuck DeVore and recognize that everyone has the right to free speech. No matter how much we disagree, we accomplish more by allowing all sides on an issue to have their say, and respect their right to say it. he best counter to hate speech is truth speech.

You can follow OCLNN’s coverage of Orange County Local News at www.oclnn.com.

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1 comment for “OCLNN on UCI rallies against racism, intolerance, and arrests”

Montana

March 4, 2010 at 3:13 pm

(1) UCSD: A group of dumb white frat guys hold an event called a “Compton Cookout.” This pisses people off as it used Black History Month as a reason to mock black people with racist stereotypes. Also involved is some idiot who tries to use this opportunity for shameless self-promotion, who also happens to be black. To say the least, the guy is basically a wannabe Flavor Flav.

(2) UCSD: Another dumb white frat guy gets mad that blacks are offended of being relegated to a bigoted stereotype. He tries to hold another racist event.

(3) UCSD: Meanwhile, a terrible student media publication (which, after viewing their website consists of all white staff, nudity, staff wrestling each other, and well, not much else), pushes their limits calling black students “ungrateful n—-” – not just that word, but also that apparently the black students owed them something. They have a reputation of being trashy, and at this point, administration and faculty rush to condemn racism by students of the campus and various protests begin. Funding is also cut from all student media at UCSD, creating an extra bitter controversy.

(4) UCSD: On Friday of that week, a noose is found in the library. Everything gets worked in a frenzy and – something I’ll address later – a large amount of white commenter’s on the internet begin claiming that is was probably a black student who planted it in order to gain more sympathy. In addition, there are rumors of a threatening note sent to the Guardian and a second noose, there was no second noose, and the threat seems to be just a rumor.

(5) UCSD: Protests basically happen at all schools in support of the students. There are various sit-ins, and teach-ins, and what have you. School administrators become pushed to be more active in fixing what’s going on.

I have not seen this noose person, but most of you blame her and conveniently forget wear this all originated.

Instead of an apology there has been steady escalation and now the noose. So, what exactly will the excuses be for this cowardly act that brings up memories of the confederate KKK of the South in their attempts to keep slavery and the non-whites in fear? Is it that are uneducated, is it that their parents planted these seeds of hate, is it that they are live in fear because our President in the white house is not 100% white. In my opinion this is what the small portions of the republican party of “birthers, baggers and blowhards” have brought you. These kids are good at “Follow the Leader” of their dullard leaders, they listen to Beck, Hedgecock, Hannity, O’Reilly, Rush and Savage and the rest of the Blowhards, they are young and dumb. Are you surprise at what they do when you know what they think? The world is complicated and most republicans (Hamiliton, Lincoln, Roosevelt) believe that we should use government a little to increase social mobility, now its about dancing around the claim of government is the problem. The sainted Reagan passed the biggest tax increase in American history and as a result federal employment increased, but facts are lost when mired in mysticism and superstition. Although most republicans are trying to distant themselves from this fringe they have a long way to go.